Christopher Paul Baker

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Christopher Paul Baker (born in Yorkshire, England, on 15 June, 1955) is a travel writer and photographer currently specializing in the Caribbean and Central America. He is considered one of the world's leading authorities on Cuba.[citation needed] He is a contributor to magazines and other publications worldwide, and is the author of many travel guidebooks plus an award-winning literary travelog.[citation needed]

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[edit] Education

Christopher P. Baker was educated at Rastrick Grammar School, in Brighouse, Yorkshire. In 1976 he received a BA (Honours) in Geography from the University of London (University College London), during which time he participated in a university exchange program at Krakow, Poland; and in two Sahara research expeditions. The following year he received a scholarship to attend the graduate Center for Latin American Studies, at the University of Liverpool, where he received a Masters. He returned to the University of London, received a teaching diploma from the Institute of Education in 1978, and spent brief periods teaching at schools in London between periods of travel in Europe and North America. His first travel article appeared in the Brighouse Echo as dispatches from the United States.

[edit] Career

In 1980, Baker relocated to California, where he received a Scripps-Howard Foundation Scholarship to attend the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Baker never attended Berkeley, however, as that year he married a travel agent and entered the travel industry. His employer, Adventure Center (currently based in Emeryville, California), represented numerous foreign-based adventure companies, including those specializing in transcontinental overland travel. He launched his career as a travel writer and photographer in 1983 and initially specialized in international adventure travel. His many feature articles included first-person reports on such activities as bicycling in Bali, hiking to Mount Everest, whitewater rafting in Papua New Guinea, and natural history cruising in the Galapagos Islands. In 1984 he became a contributing editor for International Travel News, specializing in Southeast Asia. That year he also planned his first group tour to Britain and for the next six years operated tours to Britain under the company name, British Pride Tours. In 1989 and 1990 he operated shopping tours to Hong Kong and Korea with his then girlfriend, former fashion model Kim Mason. He continued to organize and manage trips to Britain on behalf of universities, travel agents, etc. until 1990, following which he dedicated himself exclusively to his travel writing and photography career.

During these years, Baker had already established himself as one of North America's most prolific and successful travel journalists. His self-syndicated stories appeared regularly in newspapers throughout the USA and Canada, including front-page stories in the Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, New York Post, San Francisco Examiner, and Toronto Globe & Mail, etc. His other credits included feature stories in scores of publications worldwide, ranging from BBC World, Elle, and National Wildlife to Newsweek International and the South China Morning Post, plus the inflight magazines of most major international airlines.

Meanwhile, Baker had established himself as a leading authority on deluxe resorts worldwide. He also reported on cruising and, with increasing frequency, on the Caribbean, particularly Jamaica. He was also in demand as a commercial copy-writer in the specialist travel industry -- his many clients included Backroads, Ker & Downey, Euro-Bike Tours, and World Expeditions. His skills as a commercial writer earned him three national awards for best catalogs [1].

In 1989, Baker was admitted to the Society of American Travel Writers. That year he was also commissioned to write his first guidebook, resulting in publication of the Costa Rica Handbook (now Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica. His voluminous guidebook quickly established itself as the authoritative guide to Costa Rica and earned multiple awards, including the 1996 Benjamin Franklin Award. Baker's first Lonely Planet guidebook, on Jamaica, was followed by Lonely Planet's guidebook to The Bahamas & Turks & Caicos and by the Cuba Handbook, now published as Moon Handbooks: Cuba.

In 1996, Baker shipped his BMW motorcycle to Cuba and rode 7,000 miles (11,000 km) around the island [2]. The journey resulted in publication of Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba (National Geographic Adventure Press, 2001), a literary travelog that won both the Lowell Thomas Award as 'Travel Book of the Year' and the North American Travel Journalists Association's 'Grand Prize.' Baker has since authored numerous other books, including Moon Handbooks: Havana, National Geographic Traveler's Cuba, and Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles, an award-winning coffee-table book that also established Baker as a travel photographer of international stature. Baker's photographs of classic cars in Cuba have been exhibited throughout North America. His images are also represented through Lonely Planet Images photo stock agency.

[edit] Current Activities

Baker currently lives in Palm Springs, California, from where he continues to write and lecture about Cuba, the Caribbean, and Central America. He is a regular contributor to such publications as National Geographic Traveler, The Robb Report, and Caribbean Travel & Life, as well as such Internet sites as Expedia, Home & Abroad, and Luxury Latin America. He is acknowledged as one of the world's leading authorities on travel to Cuba.

He continues to update his Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica (now in its sixth edition) and Moon Handbooks: Cuba (now in its fourth edition) to ensure that they retain their reputations as the most authoritative guidebooks to each destination. His most recent works include National Geographic Traveler's Panama (National Geographic Society, 2007) and Puerto Rico: A Beautiful Isle (Macmillan Caribbean, 2007). He is currently authoring National Geographic Traveler's Dominican Republic, Top 10 Cuba (to be published by Dorling Kindersley), and Palm Springs: A Destination Guide (to be published by Countryman Press). He has also written two books about California and Nevada, as well as several other travel guidebooks. He has also contributed chapters and photography to more than a dozen other travel books and anthologies.

[edit] Books

  • Bahamas and Turks & Caicos (Lonely Planet)
  • Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles (Interlink)
  • Eyewitness Travel Guide to Costa Rica (Dorling Kindersley)
  • Jamaica (Lonely Planet)
  • Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castros' Cuba (National Geographic Adventure Press)
  • Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica (Avalon Travel Publishing)
  • Moon Handbooks: Cuba (Avalon Travel Publishing)
  • Moon Handbooks: Havana (Avalon Travel Publishing)
  • National Geographic Traveler's Costa Rica (National Geographic Society)
  • National Geographic Traveler's Cuba (National Geographic Society)
  • National Geographic Traveler's Dominican Republic (National Geographic Society)
  • National Geographic Traveler's Panama (National Geographic Society)
  • Illustrated Guide to Jamaica (NTC Publishing/Thomas Cook Publishing)
  • Top 10 Cuba (Dorling Kindersley)
  • Trav'bug California (Prentice Hall; with Judy Wade)
  • Travelers Companion Guide to Costa Rica (Globe Pequot, 3rd ed.)

Chapters in:

  • America on Wheels: California & Nevada (Frommer's)
  • Literary Trips: In the Footsteps of Fame
  • Rainforests (Inside Guides)
  • Travel: Where to go When (Dorling Kindersley)
  • Travelers' Tales: Cuba (Travelers Tales)
  • Travelers' Tales: Food (Travelers Tales)
  • Voyages: The Romance of Cruising (Tehabi)
  • World Travel: A Guide to International Ecojourneys (Time-Life Books)
  • Writer's Digest: A Beginner's Guide to Getting Published (Writer's Digest Books)

[edit] Trivia

  • Cruise Lectures: Baker was for several years a faculty member of Cunard Cruise Lines and acted as a port-of-call lecturer aboard the Vistafjord and Sagafjord during their Caribbean and South American voyages. He has also been a guest lecturer for Holland America Line.
  • Radio & TV Appearances: Baker appears regularly on radio and TV stations, where his preferred subject is Cuba. He has been profiled in USA Today in addition to interviews on ABC, CBS, NBC, the National Geographic Channel, Fox TV, NPR (National Public Radio), the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Shaw TV, and the Rick Steves Travel Show. Baker has met Fidel Castro and other members of the Cuban government, and his interviews and presentations are laced with anecdotes about his travel experiences and meetings with improbable personalities, from showgirls to CIA spies and secret police agents.
  • Public Speaking: Baker is in demand as a public speaker, particularly as an authority on Cuba. He has been privileged to address the National Press Club, National Geographic Society, and World Affairs Council, among other institutions, and continues to give lectures and other presentations at bookstores, libraries, etc. throughout North America.

[edit] Quotes

  • Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles
    • This is the most beautiful, most sympathetic photo book about Cuba I have seen for years. It's terrific! — Martin Cruz Smith, author of Gorky Park and Havana Bay
    • Cuba is a photographer's dream and nightmare: she is pathologically photogenic. Only the best artists can simultaneously pose and question her. Baker does. — Andrei Codrescu, author of Ay! Cuba and contributor to NPR's 'All Things Considered'
    • Baker has done a remarkable job documenting Cuba's most important cultural icons, visually capturing the elusive sense of place that is the goal of every travel photographer and yet which very few ever achieve... For a writer of Baker's ability to demonstrate equal talent as a photographer is an enviable accomplishment. — Robert Holmes, twice recipient of the Travel Photographer of the Year Award
  • Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba
    • This is a wonderful adventure book... a meditation on philosophy, politics, and the possibilities of physical love. It has the depth of a novel and the feeling of a great love story. — Judges, Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards
    • Often hilarious, sometimes hair-raising... Enough skirt-chasing to elicit images of a Yorkshire Micky Spillane... A marvelously eccentric trip... a very engaging read. — Publisher's Weekly

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